A Second Chance
by riss chan
Summary: Kikyou's thoughts on life after Naraku's death, and her regret over the fact that she still lingers on Earth. Some Rin x Kohaku fluff too! First fanfic attempt, please read and review? :3


(Okay hi anyone reading~ ^^ This is my first attempt at a fanfiction, done out of boredom. Obviously as you read you'll see that this story deviates from some of the actual events in the series but bear with me a bit, it's not -too- much of a stretch...)

{Kikyou's POV}

They say everyone deserves a second chance. I didn't want one. My soul had found peace long ago, content with the belief that the sacred jewel had burned into nothingness along with my flesh and bones and had forever left the Earth. And then that meddlesome Urasue had unearthed my remains, bringing to life a mock body in the form of the woman I once was. The second chance granted to me was useless- long ago Naraku had been defeated, not by my hands as I had sworn to do. It had been Kagome to deliver the final blow to Naraku... Kagome, the very same replacement that InuYasha had so readily accepted into his loving arms. Perhaps it was my bitterness towards the strange girl that kept my body lingering on this Earth after Naraku's demise. To be replaced by a mere copy of myself: gradually surpassed in strength and in InuYasha's heart.. it had been both infuriating and devastating.

Bitterness was never a trait I had been known for in life, but in death it had absorbed my very being, giving me the fuel I needed to continue on each grueling day with the one mission of ending the reign of that treacherous Naraku before returning to hell with InuYasha. But Kagome had robbed me of that nearly five years ago. After Naraku was destroyed by her hands InuYasha informed me that he could no longer come to hell with me- he told me that he wanted to stay with her and raise a family. He had seemed truly remorseful to abandon me, but I didn't heed his sorrow. He had chosen to lust after my replacement instead of joining me in death, so why should I find it in my heart to forgive him? To abandon me in death was unforgivable.

Often times this was how I spent my days: aimlessly walking about, occasionally helping those in need, while musing why my body remained in this world. It would seem that my soul was in even more turmoil now than it was before my death so long ago. I had found some solace in my death because of the closure it provided. My mixed and confused feelings for InuYasha had morphed into hatred and I finally had found a way to rid myself of the burden of guarding the Shikon Jewel and became, if only for a few bitter sweet moments, the free woman I had so desired to be in life. Yet now I could find no clarity in the complex emotions of my heart. I was angry with InuYasha for abandoning his promise to go to hell with me yet my rediscovered love for him still burned strongly. I was furious with Kagome for lingering in a world in which she did not belong and stealing both my lover and the task of slaying Naraku, yet at the same time I respected her strength and her unrelenting kindness towards even her most bitter enemies. I stopped my slow and steady trek through the gray and winding forest for a brief rest, casting my eyes up to the night sky, as if beckoning it to tell me why it was one could never find peace after death. Why was I cursed with a second chance? The bright woman I had been in life had died long ago, her joy and laughter disappearing along with my true body. Perhaps if I could find peace once again, as I had done so tragically before my death, my spirit could finally be laid to rest.

My replacement hand rested idly on the bark of a nearby tree, enjoying the rough texture on my smooth, false skin. I vaguely realized that in my endless travels I had ventured back into the forest surrounding the village I once protected, back into the forest where I had sealed InuYasha. It was never purposefully, but I always seemed to wander back to this place, back to the place where I was raised, where I had to raise my sister, where I nursed the sick and elderly... where I met InuYasha. With minimal inspection I immediately realized that this was the very tree that I had sealed InuYasha to. How could I forget such a landmark? My hand trailed over the marred bark and I couldn't help but sigh as the memories of that fateful day played over and over in my mind. _Love_, I thought as I removed my hand from the cracked tree bark, _what a frivolous emotion_.. I wished that I could rid myself of it for good.

My body dully ached from the cool autumn breeze and I shut my eyes, for a moment allowing myself to be freed from my cynical thoughts of death and love and merely enjoy the silence of the evening. However the woods were not as chillingly silent as they usually were: I could overhear some vaguely familiar voices, not more than fifteen feet away in a small clearing of the woods. The voices were very familiar yet so foreign at the same time. Overcome by a sense of curiousity I allowed myself to venture closer, being sure that my body remained shrouded by the line of trees.

{3rd person point of view}

"Rin-chan, shouldn't we be inside? It's cold out here, I don't want you to get sick," The young and rather meek sounding man was easily recognizable as the former servant of Naraku, who had been revived by the mysterious sword of life, Tenseiga, following the removal of the sacred jewel shard from his back. The young girl he was addressing was the former ward of InuYasha's older brother, Sesshomaru. "Kohaku-kun, it's fine!" Rin assured him with a giggle, light-heartedly jabbing back, "Unless _you're_ too cold!"

"N-no," Kohaku answered quickly as a light blush dusted across his cheeks. He wouldn't allow the rather brazen 13 year old girl, two years his junior, think she had bested him in dealing with the cold. Although he _was _a little chilly...

Rin just giggled at the rather cute blush and she scooted closer to him on the soft grass, looking rather enamored as she openly gazed him. The adoration went unnoticed by the rather oblivious teenage boy, who was not particularly familiar with girls - 'What is she looking at me like that for...? Is she hungry or something?' Kohaku sighed softly. Rin was really hard to talk to sometimes! Why were girls so difficult?

After a rather extended silence the young demon slayer cleared his throat, finally finding the courage to speak up. "U-Uh, Rin-chan... why'd you bring me out here?" She had burst into the home he shared with his sister and her husband right after before bed, dragging him out with no response to his many questions aside from 'Just follow me'. It wasn't unusual for Rin to turn up after her guardian Kaede went to sleep and demand that Kohaku spend time with her... he never minded it of course, although she usually told him what she was up to. However it seemed that this time her urgency wasn't to play a late night game of tag, to beg him to demonstrate his newly learned tricks with his scythe, or to show him the "super cute" stray cat she had found in the outskirts of the village. This time she was rather uncharacteristically quiet.

Rin was blushing lightly now, unable to make eye contact with the boy as she idly drew circles in the patches of grass with her fingers to calm her nerves. Normally Rin was rather fearless with her emotions and quick with her tongue, but this was heartfelt. Truly and deeply. It required much more finesse than her usual style of blurting out whatever was on her mind. "I... I was hoping you would kiss me.." Rin answered after some hesitation as she looked up to the older boy. She noticed that Kohaku's face was a rapidly darkening shade of pink and his eyes were as wide as dinner-plates. He seemed to choke on the lump that had rapidly formed in his throat. After his long hesitation and look of helplessness Rin grew nervous and began to ramble, looking for any way out of this predicament, "It's just that I've never been kissed before and I really like you a lot I have since I first met you and I was hoping you would want to kiss me but I guess you don't and that's okay I just-" Her frantic ranting was brought to a quick end as Kohaku pressed his lips against hers in a rather sweet and innocent first kiss. After kissing her he pulled away and could only manage to muster a shy smile before he sheepishly turned his gaze away her while still donning a rather obvious blush. Rin, no longer any bit embarrassed, was beaming brightly and grabbed Kohaku's hand, intertwining her fingers with his own as she stood up and pulled Kohaku to his feet along with her. "Okay, we can go back now!" She told him cheerily, already dragging him back towards the village and looking quite happy at having finally kissed the long-time object of her adoration.

"H-Huh? Well I was hoping we could...-" The rest of Kohaku's quiet protests were deaf to Kikyou's ears as the newly formed young couple gained too much distance from her.

{Kikyou's POV}

The moment was truly something sweet to watch. Young love, flourishing before my eyes... even a heart as cold as mine had become could not help but melt at the sight of something so genuine and tender. I recalled that both Kohaku and Rin had been in cold grasp of death as I had been and yet they were alive and finding happiness in each other. Perhaps it was because they had been so young when they died. They aren't blinded by anger or bitterness over dying, they've just learned to move past their tragic pasts. Perhaps I could learn a lesson from those two children.. maybe there is hope for my existence in this world, however long it may be. Perhaps it doesn't have to be all suffering, grieving the loss of my one-time lover. Perhaps there is love and companionship in this world for me, beyond the arms of InuYasha- perhaps it's time I pay a long over-due visit to my old sister, Kaede to show her the love of the sister she had lost in her youth. Perhaps this second chance is not a condemnation by the Gods, but truly a chance at redemption, to live as a worry free woman as I had always dreamed.

(Well, what do you think? :D I think Kikyou would become more optimistic after seeing Rin and Kohaku, who really are so much like her being happy. But of course she.. dies in the series -shot'd- xD

I kind of don't like the POV I used, but too late now.

... well, it could have been worse.. right? -cringe-

Anyway if you liked it or hated it please review, I'd love to hear.

Although like I said this is my first time writing so try not to go *too* rough..)


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